Guardian and Protector
by RedLion2
Summary: Shannon Casull muses about his life with his sisters, Raquel and Pacifica. Oneshot based on Scrapped Princess manga. Not a crossover.


The characters of _Scrapped Princess_ do not belong to me.

This a one-shot, based on some of Shannon Casull's thoughts.

_Guardian and Protector_

We are on the move again. Constantly. We are being hunted, and I know our pursuers can't be far behind. They never are. I glance at Raquel, and see a little trepidation on her face. She glances toward me and catches my eye, and smiles. The smile is to put me at ease, so I smile back. I want her to be reassured as well.

Raquel is the sunshine in our small, very close family. The spell-caster, in more than one way. She is beautiful, though I probably would never tell her that. We both have hair so black it shines blue in bright sunlight, and her eyes have more of an intense blueness than mine, though we both have slate-blue eyes.

"Are we almost there?" the high voice coming from within the wagon is Pacifica's, and it's followed by her blonde head sticking out. She is the baby of our family, the spoiled brat that everyone inherently is drawn to, myself included. Pacifica is the spitfire, the source of all the fun.

"Not quite," Raquel tells her, and Pacifica sighs.

"Shannon-nii, why is it taking so long?" she asks, and I shrug, because I don't really know.

"I'm not sure how far the town is," I tell her truthfully, hoping she'll back off instead of starting a fight. As the middle child, you would think my job would be the peacekeeper, but that's rarely the case. I'm more of the director, keeping us on track.

And I'm also the guardian, the protector. Long ago I swore allegiance solely to my two sisters, and especially Pacifica. You see, she is called the "Scrapped Princess," the girl who, according to the Oracle of St. Grendel, will bring about the end of humanity when she reaches age fifteen. That time has come and gone, and there are people hunting her, hunting us.

And so Raquel and myself have dedicated our lives to keeping our youngest safe, no matter the cost, no matter what we have to go through. It's hard, sometimes, when we are weary, to keep going. But if we don't, if we fail, Pacifica will die.

"Shannon." Raquel is looking over her shoulder, and her voice is soft but full of concern.

"How many?" I ask, flipping the reins to urge our horse on faster.

"I sense eight," she says softly, and turns to me. I see the tiredness in her eyes, and I wish I could tell her to stay out of it this time, but I will need her help. And I know she won't fail me. She never has.

"Pacifica, stay behind Raquel." I stop the horse in a clearing. It's a good place to fight. I hop down and heft my sword; the weight feels good in my hands, and I ready myself. Raquel and Pacifica stand off to the side, where they should be safe from the main fighting.

They attack in a fan pattern, and I go to work, methodically cutting through them, never killing. I see no point in it, when I can beat them without taking their lives. I feel one come from behind and I spin, parrying his attack and sweeping his legs from beneath him.

A scream strikes through the air and my heart stops: it is Pacifica's cry, and I turn, seeing two men advancing on her. Where is Raquel? Why has she abandoned her post?

"Wall, obstruct." The command sings high on the air, and the two men are thrown backward by the magical force. Raquel steps close to Pacifica, shielding her. I turn back to the men attacking me.

The battle does not last long, and I finally sheath my weapon and walk slowly over to my sisters, noting Pacifica's agitated state. She hates that we always have to fight for her sake, but such is our way of life. But today she seems more worked up than normal, and I frown, concerned for her.

"Pacifica?" I step close to her, a hand reaching to touch her slim shoulder.

"It's Raquel-nee!" she tells me, her voice high with fright. My stomach clenches as I turn to our older sister and meet her pained gaze.

"Raquel? What happened?" I ask, and she shakes her head slightly, and her eyes are dull. I move to her side. "Tell me."

Slowly, she takes her hand away from her side, and my heart drops at the sight of blood. "I was cut," she says gently. "I'm alright, Shannon."

"Let me see." I bend down and eye the wound. It's deep, deeper than she would have told me, and I feel fear, real fear, knife through me for the first time in a long time. Anger boils up through the fear. I failed. I am the guardian, and I failed to protect Raquel.

"Shannon, look at me," Raquel says softly, and I look, and I know she's reading me. She's good at that. "This isn't your fault. You can't protect us all the time."

I shake my head, and my eyes harden to steel. "It's my job, Raquel, and I failed." I stride over to the wagon and grab a piece of cloth to staunch the bleeding. Pacifica is afraid, so I try to act nonchalant. "It'll be alright," I say and press the cloth to Raquel's wound. She winces, and my anger threatens to blow its cover. _My fault_. The words echo through my mind, taunting me. I failed.

"Shannon, stop," Raquel says and removes my hand from the cloth. I step back, frowning, as she walks away. I know it hurts her to walk, but she is strong. Pacifica sidles up to me, her teal eyes full of worry. Her eyes can appear to be either vibrant green or blue, but usually they're a distinct combination of the two, like now.

"She'll be fine," I say, a promise that I'm not sure I can keep, but one that I'll die trying to. I walk over to Raquel and put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently. She looks at me over her shoulder, trying to smile. There she goes again, trying to reassure me, when it is I who should be reassuring her.

"It's not too bad, Shannon. I'll be fine."

I walk around to face her, and reach up to push a silky strand of her hair back behind her ear. "I know you will be," I tell her, then motion to Pacifica to join us. She comes shyly, afraid she's interrupting. She hugs Raquel, ever so gently, as to not further hurt her.

"Come on." I gesture toward the wagon, wanting to patch Raquel up.

"I'll get some water!" Pacifica sings out and hurries off, leaving us alone. Raquel gasps a little in pain and I wrap an arm around her shoulders and guide her over to the wagon.

"Here, sit," I instruct her firmly. She nods and does as I command, her face contorting in pain. "It'll be okay," I say, wanting to believe it.

"I know."

Pacifica returns with the water, so eager to help. I thank her and begin gently cleaning Raquel's wound, hearing her hiss in pain. I glance up, staring into those slate-blue eyes that I know so well, and see her fear. Fear that could have been avoided had I done my job better.

I finish cleaning and press the bandages against the wound. Pacifica helps me wrap it, and then I put an arm around each sister and lead them to a group of rocks that edges the clearing. The both sit and I begin to make a fire. Raquel shifts and raises a hand, but a sharp look from me halts her action. I don't need her help starting the fire; her magical capabilities are impressive, but she tends to get overzealous when attempting mundane activities. Too often, the magic supercedes the task. She's been known to start forest fires when trying to start a simple camp one.

We eat in silence. Raquel hardly touches her food, and Pacifica is picky – not like either one of them, and I worry. That's part of my job, too. The brother always has to worry. The night air takes on a chill, and Pacifica grabs some blankets to keep us warm. I sit between them, as if I can ward off anything evil that might desire to touch them. Pacifica is tired, and leans her head on my shoulder, making me smile.

"Maybe we'll get to the town tomorrow," she says softly, and I nod. There is no maybe about it.

"We will," I say and feel Raquel glance at me. I know that some people think she's fanciful and a little scatter-brained because she always searches for the good side of things, but she is all heart, and I would do anything for her. And for Pacifica as well. We are a family, and we're all we've got.

I make the girls go to sleep, but it's elusive for me, so I sit awake, wondering what tomorrow will bring. Raquel will need to see a doctor, and anytime we must enter a town, there is a certain risk that someone will discover that we're the Scrapped Princess party. But I'm willing to take the risk. Raquel is just as important to me as Pacifica.

"Shannon-nii?" I jump and turn, seeing my youngest approaching.

"Yeah?"

"Is Raquel really going to be okay?" Her voice is tense, and I know I must put her at ease. She worries too much about us as it is.

"She will be. We'll find a good doctor tomorrow," I say, putting all the reassurance I can muster into my voice. She nods, her blonde hair sparkling in the moonlight.

"Do you ever get tired of fighting?" Pacifica is watching me intensely.

"Sometimes." I have to tell her the truth. "But it's worth it. _You're _worth it."

She smiles but it doesn't touch her eyes. "I'm sorry you both have to do it. Raquel got hurt because of me." There's such sadness in her voice that I want to hug her, but I stay the action. We're a very tight little family, but we try not to get too emotional. Most of our emotions get put into the fighting. Its how we've stayed alive.

"No. She got hurt because I wasn't paying enough attention, Pacifica. That won't happen again." And it won't. I could never forgive myself if either of my sisters were taken from me.

"You should sleep," she tells me and gets up to go back to the wagon. I reach for her hand and stop her. She gazes up, teal eyes questioning.

"I will." I hug her then, a tight squeeze that will hopefully let her know that I will always be here, for her and Raquel.

"Okay." She smiles and runs off, and I relax and lay down, pulling my blankets over me. My work for the day is done, and I am bone-tired.

Tomorrow we'll be on our way again, and I will take up my role as guardian and protector. I will do my best to keep our little family alive and well, because that is my job, and I do it willingly, with everything I've got.

I love my sisters, and I will not let them down.

SCRAPPED PRINCESS

A/N: I just bought the first volume of the _Scrapped Princess _manga, and have read it thoroughly about eight times. I am so enthralled with the story! I hope to collect both the manga and anime, as well as the novels the story is based on. Please let me know what you think of this one-shot. Also, let me know if I used the suffixes "nee" and "nii" right. That's what Pacifica calls them in the manga, so I'm assuming they refer to sister and brother? I'd like to do a longer story, and I want to get my facts straight...RL2


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